


Uneasy Anarchy

by cleopatraslibrary



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: (see notes for OOC Sans tag), Chara isn't in control of Frisk's actions, F/F, Gen, He Does See The Past Present and Future However, Out of Character Sans (Undertale), Sans (Undertale) Doesn't Remember Resets, Timeline Shenanigans, Undertale Neutral Route
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-09
Updated: 2020-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-01 00:40:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,229
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23076415
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cleopatraslibrary/pseuds/cleopatraslibrary
Summary: Sans watches the human kill Undyne.For once, he feels her loss.
Relationships: Alphys & Undyne (Undertale), Alphys/Undyne (Undertale), Frisk & Sans (Undertale), Papyrus & Sans (Undertale), Papyrus & Undyne (Undertale), Sans & Undyne (Undertale)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 20





	Uneasy Anarchy

**Author's Note:**

> *Out of Character Sans tag: Sans, in the game, does not really react negatively at all to the player's actions, except during the Judgement. Even then, most of the Judgements are told in a lighthearted, joking manner. In this fic, Sans is not apathetic. He suffers, and feels, and though it is not really explained in this fic, is beginning to lose all sense of what is in his current timeline, because of his ability to see the Past, Present, and Future.
> 
> His ability to see the PP&F is a headcanon of mine: basically, everytime his eyes begin to glow, he views either past, present, or future events, all from his perspective. This, along with his ability to teleport, is due to his working with Gaster and somehow surviving the fall into the CORE. However, Gaster isn't apart of this fic and isn't mentioned. I'll elaborate more in the end notes, as anything else I say will begin to spoil the fic.
> 
> I hope you enjoy!
> 
> DISCLAIMER: I do not own or in any way try to claim Undertale or any of the characters in this fic; they belong to the one and only, Toby Radiation Fox.

“SANS!”

Sans jolted awake, cracking open his eye sockets to look up at Undyne -- a fully-armored Undyne, magic still swirling around her glove-cladded fin-tips in anger. He could hear her breathing heavily in the layered metal suit; Hotland was already taking its toll on her.

Heh, the kid was still on the straight and narrow. Good. It wouldn’t--

Undyne turned suddenly, throwing a magical spear at the kid, and the battle began again. She screamed in frustration. “You’re NOT getting away from me this time!”

The spear soared past the kid. Their SOUL was still its normal, bright red. They could escape.

Instead, they smiled. 

Unease skittered down Sans’ spine; this wasn’t the kid, not the good kid-- Stars, what was their name again? He couldn’t remember. No, this was the anomaly. This was the one who’s power caused the corruption of the TL’s data. 

This anomaly’s curiosity will destroy their world, sooner or later.

He watched, with dark eyelights, as Undyne and the anomaly battled. They were still using the stick they were carrying when in Snowdin, but it was dealing heavy damage; they knew about Undyne’s weakness in Hotland and was using it to their advantage. 

Sans CHECKed them. 

**CHARA**

**LVL 1 - ATK 1 - DF 20**

***The determined seventh fallen human.**

They were still only at LOVE 1, and they still didn’t have any EXECUTION POINTS. They were probably dealing small amounts of damage to Undyne’s HP, despite her weakness. Why start FIGHTing now? Clearly, they understood how to get through Undyne, if they made it this far.

_They’ve made it this far many times before_ , he unwittingly reminded himself. They’re getting bored. He felt his soul pulse underneath his ribcage. Despite the data’s corruption now, the basics were all still too easy to understand: his old studies of time weren’t as pointless as they initially theorized; they just hadn't had all of the variables. He didn’t need the reminder that this kid was disrupting the space time continuum for their amusement. 

Sans already knew.

Undyne continued to shout at the human, but her attacks were getting weaker; they were much easier to dodge than before, and Sans could tell she was wearing herself out. (He wondered how many times she killed them.) Meanwhile, they were cutting her down with ease, a constant barrage of stick swipes that were hitting her hard. 

She didn’t try to dodge; Sans knew how she felt about dodging in battle--

His eye flashed.

_(“It’s a CHEAP move, Sans!” she shouted, panting heavily as he dodged and teleported behind her._

_“that’s why i’m so good at it,” he replied, winking. He threw a harmless blue bone at her. She growled._

_“Face me head ON!” she roared and Papyrus’ laugh had echoed around her training area. His smile hadn’t felt so fake that day, even if his ligaments were sore days afterward.)_

\--but, stars, for a second, he wished she wasn’t as dedicated as she was. He wished she wasn’t as determined as she was.

This was going to be a nightmare. 

Behind the battle, a flower suddenly stuck its bloom out of the ground. It stared at the ongoing fight with an easy, twisted smile. If his notes were correct, then he was staring at the original anomaly. He hadn’t seen it yet officially in this timeline, but his past self was meticulous in his note-taking, even taking the time to sketch a crudely-drawn picture of a yellow flower with a wide smile.

His focus flickered between the flower and the battle. He could kill the flower now; the current anomaly would certainly override its original power and it would stay dead. But he couldn’t take the chance of starting another battle so close to Undyne. He doubted it, but maybe the human was just trying to make a point to Undyne that they could fight, but was just _choosing_ not to. 

Unlikely, but who knows how they thought?

Not only that, if he used the Gaster Blasters… their radius was long. Not only could he potentially kill Undyne or the human, he could kill people just hanging out in Hotland. It wasn’t worth the risk.

His eye flashed.

_(“heh, i don't know,_ kid _,” Sans joked, staring at them, who didn’t look amused. “it’s pretty_ f-risky _, if you ask me. i don't want to be hit with your mom’s_ fiery _wrath.”_

_They began signing rapid-fire._ Come on, Sans, it’ll be fun. _They pouted, and damn it, they had to be taking some pointers from Papyrus, because he could already feel his will wavering._

_“your mom’s gonna kill me,_ kid _.” They mimed having horns and scrunched up their nose. “heh. ok, fine. let’s get_ goatin _.”)_

Frisk. 

That was the anomaly’s name.

Frisk.

_Damn it, kid._

Undyne drew spears up from the ground, trying to circle the ki- the anomaly, but she left an opening in front of her sternum, right at the juncture where he knew her gills were. They struck her, dragging the stick down her chest, and pushing in, before yanking it back out. 

Undyne staggered. She knelt down slowly, grasping at the bottom of the gaping wound. It was beginning to get gooey, dripping onto her gloves, as if it wound itself was beginning to melt together--

Melt. 

Sans’ eyelights widened. _What did Alphys do to protect you?_ he thought desperately at Undyne. But she wasn’t paying attention to him. 

“You were stronger… than I thought,” she said weakly. “So then… this is where… it ends…” The other scratches and damage done to her began to ooze. She was going to turn into an amalgamate. Or would she? She hadn’t fallen down. Her health was forcibly brought down; it wasn’t a natural cause. This wasn’t his field of study. He didn’t know-- She should have already dusted by now--

Could she survive?

If he could teleport her to the True Lab, or even to a gifted healer -- Gerson might be the best shot, his magic was powerful and she trusted him -- then maybe they could save her. And from a scientific standpoint, it’d be interesting to see whether or not they could truly make monsters--

“No,” she said suddenly and stood back up. Her eye was gleaming. Her magic whipped around her, her red hair flowing freely in its intensity. She conjured another spear. “NO! I won’t die. Alphys, Asgore, Papyrus…” A pang of pain fluttered in Sans’ soul. “Everyone is counting on ME to protect them! NGAAAAAAAAAAH!”

He watched as she turned the human’s SOUL green, throwing the spear at them to catch. _This was it. There’s no way for them to escape,_ he thought hysterically. _She’s forcing them to finish her own death._

There was no way he could save her.

Fri-- the anomaly came to the same conclusion, but it was too late for hesitation. It was too late to run away. It was too late to SPARE her. 

He wondered, vaguely, if he was going to witness Undyne kill the anomaly. 

He wondered, horribly, if he was going to witness the anomaly kill Undyne.

He wondered if, when they RELOADed, he would remember their name.

“HUMAN! In the name of everybody’s hopes and dreams, I WILL DEFEAT YOU!”

Frisk struck her-- 

The _anomaly_ struck her again. Her face crumbled in pain, before her expression smoothed out into a bland smile. Undyne’s legs began to turn into dust. She wasn’t going to survive. “Is that the best you’ve got?!”

She shot rapid fire spears from different directions. They were able to block a few of them with the spear, but caught most of the fire. Blood wept from their open wounds.

Undyne looked determined. 

They struck again, their reluctance seemingly forgotten against her onslaught.

“Is that the best you’ve got?!” she shouted again. She threw more spears, circling them.

This time, they blocked most of the shots and struck her with her own spear. She gurgled incoherently for a few seconds, before the anomaly pulled the spear out. Dust and wet, porous decay dripped from the wound.

“You’re going to have to try harder than that!” Undyne said. Her body was wavering. 

_I can’t watch this_ , he thought, anguished. _I can’t intervene. That’s not how this world works-- I can’t join the battle now. It’s too late._

Her attacks were slowing down. Her death was imminent. 

Pollen wafted around the battlefield. Sans looked past them for a second, looking for that fucking flower, but it wasn’t there. 

It wasn’t even there.

Sans wanted to laugh. It’d be a cold, bitter sound, but laugh nonetheless. Even that flower wasn’t going to watch. Why should he?

_Because you’re the Judge_ , his mind whispered. _You’ve followed them thus far. This is the only thing you can do._

_Who made him the Judge?_ he shouted back at himself. _Who said I had to do this?!_

_It doesn't matter who; you just do._

And he knew it, in the very essence of his bones, that it was true. He was born to be the Judge, and he could only pretend otherwise for so long.

He wanted to turn away; he wanted to give up; he wanted to crawl into bed and never get back up. Nothing _mattress_ , anyway, right? It’d all just be RESET.

Sans watched as the human struck her again. Undyne’s body… It was losing its shape. Cracks fragmented along her skin, dust sprinkling in the air. She attacked again; only a couple of spears materialized. 

“Had enough yet?” she asked. The metal armor was falling apart. Scraps of metal fell onto the pathway uselessly. 

Frisk attacked again, hitting her right in the chest. 

Her body… it was… it was falling apart, her skin beginning to dribble. Her hair and brow was drenched in sweat, but she persevered. Somehow, Undyne continued.

“I won’t… give up…” she murmured. Dust continued to scatter off of her body.

She threw three more spears, the magic slow and fizzling out as Frisk blocked the blows easily. 

The kid stared at her. Sans hoped, just for a second, that maybe they’d let her kill them, and that they wouldn’t have to deal with the backlash.

Their eyes flashed a bright, curious gold. Their lips curled up. They threw the shield-spear at her, landing directly in her stomach. Their SOUL was red again. They could escape.

Instead, they watched.

“Ha… ha…” Undyne’s voice was so small. He didn’t know it could be that small. “Alphys… This is what I was afraid of… This is why… I didn’t… tell you…”

_Oh, fuck, oh fuck, no, Undyne, no…_

“No-- NO!” she tried to shout -- it only came out as a meek mutter. “I won’t die!” Her body dispersed and her spear fizzled out of existence. Her body completely disintegrated before them, dust scattering, before rejoining. Undyne knelt on the ground, staring up at the cavern ceiling, her fists clenched and straining. “I WON’T DIE!” she screamed. Her body shifted and Sans realized -- she was melting. For real, this time. “I WON’T DIE!” 

Some of her body puddled on the floor. If skeletons had stomachs to be sick, he knew he’d be throwing up right then. Her body distorted like a wax figurine near fire. 

The determination was eating through her physical matter.

“I… WON’T…”

Her body turned to dust. It settled quietly on the ground, forming a small pile.

Sans teleported just as the battle sequence ended, right at the exit of Waterfall, hiding in the shadows. The kid looked at his station, a flash of disappointment on their face before they trekked forward, walking across the bridge. God, did they want to see his reaction?

He didn’t dare make a sound, lest they decide to turn around.

Sans held his breath, waiting to end up back asleep in his station, but as the long seconds turned into minutes, he had another cold, hard pressed realization.

They weren’t RELOADing. And they probably wouldn’t, either. 

They’d made their decision to keep this timeline. They’d most likely already made another SAVE point.

He inhaled sharply, breathless for a second, before manipulating his magic, opening a hole in the space continuum, and letting himself teleport to the enclosed cavern where Undyne’s house was. If he had the right time, Papyrus would be waiting here for Undyne to get back. 

“SANS? WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?”

He was right; Sans stared at his brother, who was clearly getting ready to berate him for leaving his post, before his expression suddenly changed. “SANS? Are you alright?” Papyrus asked, concern knitting along his brow bone. 

_I can’t tell him_ , he thought suddenly. _I can’t hurt him._

_It wasn’t just some nobody monster, though, that’d the kid-- that the anomaly killed,_ he fought with himself. _This was Undyne. Everyone is going to want to honor her, and her memory_. 

Her memory. 

Stars, he’d just left her dust there, for anyone to find. They may not have been as close as his brother and she’d been, but didn’t he have respect? 

He stared down at his hands. He was just as guilty as the anomaly.

His eye flashed.

_(“--promise me, will you not?”_

_He closed his sockets. He could feel the KARMA weighing heavily on his spine. “heh... i promise.”_

_The woman didn’t answer the door anymore when he knocked after the human escaped the Underground._

_All he was doing was fulfilling a dead woman’s wish._

_He was as guilty as the anomaly.)_

“Sans, your eye is glowing,” Papyrus murmured. He knelt down in front of him, opening his arms. 

Sans shook away thoughts of the past and tried to focus on the present. “not…” He just left her dust, _Undyne’s_ dust, sitting there, for anyone to find. Were they close in this timeline? He couldn’t remember. The lines were getting just as blurry as they were for everyone else, and his usual grasp on reality was already compromised. Sans forced himself to focus on Papyrus, who was staring at him with poorly concealed concern. Suddenly, desperation was clogging his non-existent throat and he just wanted to tell Papyrus everything. He wanted him to remember. “pap, please come back to the house, i _promise_ i’ll explain, i just-- i-- i-- i have to do something,” he begged, already opening another door to their kitchen. “please, pap, just… i have to…”

A hand rested on his shoulder. “Of course, brother,” he replied evenly. He must have been scared by Sans’ reaction, if he wasn’t even arguing about how he had a strict schedule to maintain with Undyne. He didn’t voice his fear, however; instead, he just quietly followed Sans through the door, shuddering as he walked through the portal. He still wasn’t as accustomed to it as Sans was. He probably never would be; it was as unnatural as his procured magic in the first place.

Sans closed the door and opened the tall sink cabinet. He climbed inside and grabbed a large jar. “i’ll be right back, pap,” he said, and teleported back to his station, shutting the portal tightly so that Papyrus couldn’t see him, or reopen it with his own magic. 

He squinted in confusion. Did Papyrus ever learn how to manipulate the space continuum in another timeline?

Sans shook his skull. He didn't know, but it didn't matter, either.

The dust was exactly as he left it. Thankfully, no one seemed to have stumbled upon the scene yet and the dust hadn’t scattered -- not that there was wind to scatter it, but if they had battled while in Waterfall or Snowdin, it could have dispersed in the wet marshes, or been covered by the snow.

He forced his eye sockets shut and took a breath. _Think logically_ , he berated himself. _Act normally. You've seen some of these deaths before; you've never reacted like this before._

_But they did this in front of me. They expected me to have a reaction. They wanted me to have a reaction. I could just say those visions were dreams, or an overambitious imagination. This is_ real _. And, even if it’s harder for them to remember,_ I _remember the friendships we’ve had. Or I’m seeing the potential friendships we will have. Or... something._

Conflicted and confused, he knelt down beside the dust and pushed it into the jar. Tiny pieces of sharp metal were mixed in and he shuddered when it stuck to his gloves. He couldn’t leave any behind. None.

He stayed in that position for an indeterminable amount of time, even after he screwed the lid back onto the jar. It could have been seconds; it could have been hours. 

Sans didn’t know.

He had to get back to the house and talk to Papyrus.

He reopened the portal and stumbled into the living room. There Papyrus sat, his expression tight as he looked up at the sudden commotion. His eye sockets widened, before his face completely changed into one of disgruntlement.

“SANS! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN? METTATON’S SHOW WILL BE COMING ON SOON AND…” He caught sight of the jar in his hand and lifted a hand over his teeth, horror dawning on his face. “Sans, who is that? What happened?”

Papyrus had always had an affinity for the culture of monsters. While Sans had excelled in the sciences and mathematics, Papyrus always did exceptionally well in monster linguistics and histories. He was never ignorant of the problems the Underground faced, or why monsters acted the way they did in order to try to keep up their hopes and dreams. No, he understood every depressing, heartbreaking aspect of their community and yet still continued with his skull held high on his shoulder blades and a genuine, positive outlook on the world. He knew why monsters needed to maintain puzzles, and how monsters died, and the cultural impact of someone falling down. 

(He was just cool like that.)

But it sucked, now, when he wanted him to be ignorant. He wanted him to be innocent of the Underground’s problems. He didn’t want him to understand what dust meant.

But he did. And Sans had to explain.

Sans wondered whether or not this scenario had ever happened, where he was honest with Papyrus about Undyne’s death. 

He wondered if he ever had to be.

His eye flashed.

_(“they’re on vacation, bro. but we-- the monsters down here, they need someone to look after them while they’re… gone.”_

_His words felt hollow, but Papyrus simply smiled._

_“THEN WE SHALL TAKE CARE OF MATTERS AS WONDERFULLY AS THEY WOULD, BROTHER!”_

_His permanent smile couldn’t waver, but he knew it would be now. He hoped it didn’t look like the grimace it certainly was._

_“yeah, bro. we will.”)_

His bones rattled. He didn’t think so.

Why was he breaking his own script now?

“bro, it’s uh. it’s…”

The back of his skull burned and he could feel his magic building up behind his ribs. He sat heavily on the floor, cradling the jar of dust. He stared down at the rug. He wanted to go to sleep.

“SANS, your eye,” Papyrus said again. 

In his peripheral vision, he saw Papyrus’ boots walk before him. He focused on their bright orange, as his brother knelt down beside him. He tried not to flinch when he felt Pap’s heavy digits rest on his shoulder in what he was sure was supposed to be a consoling gesture. 

“Who is it, Sans?” he asked quietly.

He made this choice. He had to tell him the truth.

It was all going to be RESET, anyway.

Sans could afford to be honest, just this once.

He inhaled sharply and forced it out before he could disappear.

“it’s undyne.”

Papyrus froze, ceasing all movement. He didn’t move his hand, though. Sans could feel his eyelights boring down on him.

“it’s… stars, bro…” As soon as he started talking, it all started pouring out. His magic flared. “she was chasing the human, and they led her to Hotland in front of my station, and then, they turned around and started fighting her. they- the human, they must’ve realized she was weaker there, and i couldn’t intervene. you- you know how it is when a battle starts. you have to let it finish before you can start a new one. she fought valiantly. she fought… like she was determined.” 

Phalanges touched his cheek delicately, wiping it, and his eye sockets shot up to Papyrus. He hadn’t realized he was crying. Papyrus stared at him with pained, tender eyes. “I’m sorry you had to see that, brother.”

Sans shuddered, his bones quivering. He gnashed his teeth together, trying to suppress the grieving whine in the back of his hyoid. 

It didn’t work too well. 

“Oh, brother,” Pap said. He pulled Sans onto his femurs and started rubbing his scapula in a gentle, soothing motion. Sans held the jar tightly against his chest as Papyrus cradled him in a warm, healing magic. He tucked his skull into his clavicle, his scarf cushioning his cheekbone. “Let it out, Sans.” Magic began swirling around the room, bones manifesting at random. “There we are… let it out, we’re safe. We’re safe.”

Papyrus continued the mantra softly, as Sans’ bones wreaked havoc around the house. They tore through the books, ripping the pages, and scattering paper everywhere. Long, white, pointed bones flew into the walls, tearing the wall paper. The television was knocked over, and the socks were obliterated. One of the heads of a blaster appeared and its teeth carefully wrapped around the lock, twisting it closed so no one could get in from the outside.

Sans’ eye shown a bright turquoise, casting the living room in an ethereal glow. 

_(His skull cracked and he could feel magic manifesting. Foreign memories flooded his mind and he recoiled, even as he continued to shout for ~~ **e̷͌r̵͚̘̽̏̃̅̄́͝r̶̢͇͕̞̅̃̿ô̷̧̳̖̼̐ͅr̸̎͗͛̐**~~. The CORE’s lights suddenly went out and the only light came from Sans’s blazing eye. His grip tightened on Papyrus, even as the world crashed around them.) _

His tears eventually slowed down, leaving track marks against his cheek bones. His ribs continued to rattle, but the magical attacks stopped, leaving the house in a decrepit state. Sans lifted his skull, looking at Papyrus.

His brother had a faraway look in his eye sockets. At least he wasn’t-- at least he didn’t seem--

“pap?” Sans called softly. 

Papyrus startled and looked down at Sans. His arms wrapped around Sans tightened and he relaxed back into the embrace. 

“are… are you okay, bro?”

He could have hit himself. What an asinine question.

But Papyrus didn’t seem to think so, clearly giving the question some thought. “WELL, uh, NO, SANS. I… I DON'T THINK I AM. But I, the GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL FIGURE OUT HOW TO MAKE IT BETTER! PERHAPS CLEANING THE HOUSE WILL TAKE MY MIND AWAY FROM...” Beads of sweat rolled down his skull. “BUT! UM. PERHAPS… YOU SHOULD GO SEE DR. ALPHYS, BROTHER.”

His skull shot up as he stared with wide sockets at Papyrus. “what?”

“YOU KNOW DR. ALPHYS, SANS! YOU BROUGHT HER THE DOG FOOD!” he said indignantly, giving him a half-hearted glare, before his expression smoothed over, his eyebrows furrowing. Sans stared at him bemusedly. “We both know how… how Undyne felt about the Royal Scientist, even if they hadn’t… WELL! YOU KNOW!”

His eye flashed.

_(“Ugh, she’s just s-s-so str-strong and b-beautiful, and c-c-c-courageous!” Alphys said, her voice muffled by her claws. “And good! She’s so g-good. I don't d-d-deserve her.”_

_“hey, don't say that, al. you deserve to be happy. and if she wants to be with you, you should give it a chance.” He leaned back in the desk chair, watching her face go from orange to bright red in a matter of seconds._

_“S-Sans!” she whined._

_“what?” he asked. “i’m just tellin’ you the truth. and, on a more serious note…” He shifted and turned to face her completely. “if the only reason why you’re hesitant about this is because of your research of DETERMINATION, then you should take a break from it; at least for a short while. work on other projects. you shouldn’t let your work dictate your life.”_

_“B-but you’ve seen what I’ve d-d-done,” she said helplessly. “I’ve r-r-ruined these monsters' lives!”_

_“but you’ve also saved them,” he reminded her gently. “fallen monsters almost never get back up. from the amount of monsters there, maybe one would have gotten back up, but… they’re still alive and well, because you gave them the chance to be.”_

_“They’ll n-never b-be able to live l-like before,” Alphys said morosely, her voice cracking at the end._

_Sans got up and patted her shoulder. “no, they won’t. but they can still live. they can still have hopes, and dreams, and be with their families. and you can, too, al. you still deserve to have some respite and happiness, not despite what you’ve done, but accepting it. and you know how that starts,” he added, giving her a look._

_She glanced away. “Y-yeah, I do.”)_

“i didn’t know you knew about the dog food,” Sans said, frowning. “...but you’re right, i do alphys,” he added, scratching his brow bone. He closed his sockets. Stars. He didn’t know what to do.

“SANS, YOU SHOULD TELL HER! SHE’S--” The television turned itself on and they both turned towards it. “WHAT--?”

The television started blaring a familiar tune from where it was sitting on the floor. Huh. He thought he might’ve broken it for good. 

“Oh, yes~” a mechanical voice whirred throughout the house. Sans and Papyrus both stared at the screen, equally dumbfounded as Mettaton’s new body was “released” to the public. His gaze flickered to Papyrus, whose jaw was wide open.

Forgetting himself, Sans smiled cheekily at his brother. “suppose you’ll like him even more now, eh, bro?”

Wonderfully, his cheeks went blue and Papyrus glared at him, pushing his skull away from him. “SANS!”

A sense of deja vu washed over him, but he ignored it in favor of teasing his brother.“i think mettaton is gonna _crush_ it in his new form, whaddya think, pap?”

Papyrus yelled in outrage as he focused his attention back on the television, shifting so he could watch comfortably. “I THINK--”

He faltered. Sans paid attention to what was happening on the screen. His sockets widened. Fuck.

“Mettaton is televising their battle,” he said dully. 

Frisk--

The anomaly--

The _kid--_

The human stood proudly in front of Mettaton, posing dramatically during their turns and dancing in unison with the robot as they dodged his attacks. The music blasted and spotlights dazzled as they twirled and laughed with ease. 

They laughed with ease.

Mettaton’s hits never actually hit the human and Sans had to wonder how many times they’d battled. They must have at least done it a few times if they memorized exactly where his attacks were coming from. 

“THEY… They don't look sad,” Papyrus said, his attention solely on the human now. He wrapped his arms around his legs, curling into a fetal position as he stared at the television. Sans wished Papyrus hadn’t pushed him away. “Brother, do you think they’ll…?”

He didn’t finish the thought. But Sans knew what he meant.

He bit back a sigh; he could really go for a bottle of ketchup right about now.

“i don't know, bro. i just… don't know.”

They watched the rest of the battle in relative silence, Papyrus sometimes making appreciative noises when Mettaton busted out a new move, or gasping quietly as his robotic body began to fall apart. At least the human wasn’t directly striking him; they were just letting him fall apart naturally. The energy consumption must be too much for Mettaton’s body to stay in tact; it certainly added a flare for dramatics.

He hoped, for Alphys’ sake, that the human didn’t do anything to him.

Mettaton started taking calls on the show. He didn’t pay attention to what was being said; just watched as the human looked on blandly, as if they’d heard it all before already.

Oh, yeah.

He didn’t say anything, though; just let the anger fester for a few minutes, before he let out a breath, releasing all of that energy. His skull lolled to the side. He was so tired. 

He knew the anger wouldn’t last. From what little he saw, it never did.

The battle ceased on screen. 

The cameras stilled.

The human SPAREd Mettaton.

“SEE? THEY COULD DO… A LITTLE BETTER!” Papyrus said. His voice wavered and Sans glanced at him with weak eye lights. The television cut out, the screen going to static. “THEY COULD DO… A LITTLE BETTER…”

Sans didn’t think he’d ever felt so tired. He had to have deviated from the norm, right?

Right?

Papyrus gently touched his shoulder and he rattled softly. 

He would never know. 

“Sans, why don't you go help Dr. Alphys?” he suggested. Sans didn’t want to; he really didn’t want to. 

But it was necessary. 

At this point, it was necessary. A lot of time had already been wasted and there was a chain of commands that had to be implemented. Procedures that had to take place.

A judgement, soon.

But that wasn’t the law; no. 

That was his own burden to bear.

He moved to stand up and realized belatedly he was still clutching the jar of dust. He stared at the tiny shards of metal reflected within the glass canister, the powdery thin remains of Papyrus’s close friend, budding young lover of Alphys, and hero to the Underground.

Life really wasn’t fair.

He tucked the jar under his arm and waved a hand, opening a portal to the laboratory. Alphys deserved the dust.

“i’ll be back soon, bro.”

Sans looked up at Papyrus, who mirrored his movements, standing up beside him and staring down at him. While Sans’ permanent smile was fixed into an odd looking grimace, Papyrus’ anguish was written all over his face in the way his brow bones arched downwards and his jaw was curled down. 

“ALRIGHT. I’LL BEGIN TO CLEAN UP THE HOUSE. DON'T GO TO GRILLBY’S AFTER YOU TELL HER, SANS! COME HOME. WE’LL…” his brother hesitated and Sans’s soul ached. “We’ll have dinner together tonight, alright?”

Sans nodded his skull slowly, before vigorously shaking it up and down. His bones rattled again and his brother knelt down, engulfing him in a hug. Cautiously aware of the jar, he tightened his grip on it as he embraced Papyrus with as much strength as he could muster.

Was it really fair to tell Alphys this when it’ll just be RESET? Could he do this to her, when he knew she clearly was rooting for the human since the beginning? Wanted to be a part of their “adventure”?

From behind them, someone called out, “S-Sans?” and his soul thudded loudly in his chest. 

It was too late to back out now.

“Go, brother,” Papyrus murmured and let go of him. 

He felt cold. 

“Sans?” Alphys called again. She sounded much closer to the portal than before.

“i’ll be there in a sec, al,” he called out. He rearranged the jar under his coat so it wasn’t immediately visible and stepped through, closing it behind him. 

The bright lights of the lab were a stark contrast to the soft, warm palette of the house, and he wanted to curl up in bed. He noticed Mettaton’s upper body on a cart. Heh. He must really be okay.

His eye flashed and he hurriedly covered the glow.

_(Papyrus screeched as the human shot Mettaton one last time in the side._

_“THEY’RE BREAKING HIM! DR. ALPHYS WILL BE SO DISAPPOINTED!”_

_The newly released body fell apart from the strain. His mouth moved, but no words were translated through the television. He must have muted his mic._

_Still, Sans had a bad feeling when the beatific face was reeled back into the square metal casing, the model looking much more like a mannequin than it ever did in Alphys’ test runs, even when the batteries died. The metal casing was ripped apart and the glass was cracked._

_The screen cut to black.)_

“S-Sans, I thought y-you said you weren’t going to l-leave shortcuts open in t-the lab anym-more,” Alphys chided him. “Y-you know it-t d-drives the-- Oh My God, Sans, are you okay?”

He blinked at her a couple of times. He didn’t really understand her question all too well and, slowly, put down his hand. 

“sorry, can you say again?”

“I asked if you were okay,” she repeated worriedly. She hurried over to him, wringing her claws anxiously.

“oh. eh. not really. we need to discuss something very seriously, though, al.”

“What happened?” she asked. She gestured at him to come closer to her desk. “C-come sit, it’s-- you’re safe.” She fiddled with a few buttons on the module as she said, “No one can get in here without my knowledge. You’re safe, Sans.”

“it’s… alphys, it’s not about… safety. it’s… someone died, al.”

He closed his eye sockets and shifted, cradling the jar again. Alphys gasped loudly and he listened as her claws _scrit-scrit-scrit_ across the tile flooring. There was a slight pressure on the canister and he snapped his eye sockets open, staring at Alphys without any eye lights.

“Sans, who is it?”

He breathed out. “alphys…”

“Sans.”

It was a quiet demand. She knew he couldn’t deny her when she used that tone.

“it’s… it’s undyne.”

The air thickened with magic and Alphys flinched, as if he physically struck her. “W-what?”

“it’s undyne, al. she died, battling the human.” 

She took a stumbling step backwards, her eyes wide and dark. Alphys shook her head furiously, “N-no. She can’t have died, she can’t have… We just t-talked… She w-was determined, she--”

“her determination wasn’t strong or powerful enough against the anomaly’s, al. nothing’s is.” Gently, he led her to her desk chair, helping her sit down. She stood stock still and she stared at the jar still in his hands. Carefully, he put it down next to one of the empty bowls of ramen. 

“I built her armor… I-I-I could have made it str-stronger, I-I-I could have made her more powerful… I…” Her eyes suddenly darted to his and she grabbed his wrists in tight grip, her nails digging into his bone. “Did she melt? Did she--”

Sans blinked hard a few times, before nodding. 

Alphys let out a high pitched keen and suddenly, the lights began to flicker. 

She’d always had a strong magical connection to the energy beneath the Underground; he couldn’t let her do anything which might harm any other monster. Her soul couldn’t take LOVE at this point; she wouldn’t know how to live with herself. 

Sans twisted his wrists in her grasp and held onto her own scaly flesh. “al, i need you to-- i need you to breathe, okay?”

“OKAY?!” she screeched. Sans winced. “Nothing -- NOTHING -- will EVER be OKAY! NEVER!”

Magical explosives floated around the room and he sent a few bones towards them to diffuse them as quietly as he could. 

“SHE _DIED_ , SANS, SHE-- She…”

Tears filled her eyes.

“Undyne died.”

She started sobbing in earnest, and Sans pulled her against his chest, letting her head rest on his shoulder. 

“I n-n-n-ever told her h-h-ow I feel, we n-n-n-n-ever got to b-be together, we-- She is-- She was-- oh, God, S-Sans, h-how did you…? What h-happened?”

He hesitated. Should he tell her?

“Ple-please, Sans, I’ll just w-watch it later, anyway. P-Please…”

He clenched his jaw.

It was going to be RESET, anyway. She wouldn’t remember.

None of them would.

“the h-- anomaly gave chase, running away from her out of waterfall and in front of my station in hotland. i thought they’d just keep running, but they…” He rubbed her back gently, running his phalange tips down her spikes. “they started fighting her.

“and once the fight started, i couldn’t intervene-- you know how these battles work. i wouldn’t have been able to do much anyway. but, she-- they dealt a hard blow to her chest and she started to dust, before her body came back together.”

“Na-naturally? Or like an a-amalgamate?”

“naturally. she still held onto her form, still looked like herself, except for a flashing eye. i thought, maybe if she ended the fight, we could have--” He shook his skull, staring down at his hands on her back. “--but she didn’t. she turned their SOUL green…”

“And forced them t-to finish the f-f-fight,” Alphys whispered into his coat, voice thin and watery. Sans nodded.

“she held out for as long as she could. she was a helluva fighter.”

Alphys snivelled, tightening her grip on him, before pulling away. She curled in on herself. “Sans, I need you to take care of them for me.”

A curl of dread snaked around his soul, squeezing tightly. Is this what his honesty caused?

“alphys…” 

She got up quickly, not looking at him as she gathered the canister in her arms. “I-I have t-to go see Gerson. H-h-he was pract’ly her d-dad. He d-d-deserves t-to kn-know b-b-before the K-King. Before th-the kingdom.”

She seemed to steel herself, setting her shoulders straight as she walked out of the lab.

Stars, what did he cause?

As soon as he began to follow her, his magic pulsed in his soul.

The kid entered the Judgement Hall.

Fuck.

He couldn’t go after Alphys-- not yet.

Would there be enough time to save her afterwards?

He didn’t know, but at this point, he couldn’t afford to stall any longer.

He swallowed thickly, before teleporting behind one of the columns. 

Their footsteps echoed eerily down the corridor. They were taking their time, seeming to take in the extravagance of the room.

Sans would have agreed that it was beautiful, at some point. But now, he didn’t have it in him.

His eye flashed.

_(“you’ve been busy, huh?”)_

Sans blinked heavily. 

He stepped out from behind the column.

The human immediately stopped where they were, a few feet from him. Their eyes were dim, and neutral; no shock or surprise, or fear. They held a burnt pan in one hand, and a shiny chest plate donning the Temmie insignia.

They only seemed determined to continue.

Hm.

He swallowed again, and switched to Universal.

“So you finally made it. The end of your journey is at hand. In a few moments, you will meet the king. Together… you will determine the future of this world. That’s then. 

“Now. You will be judged. You will be judged for your every action. You will be judged for every EXP you’ve earned. What’s EXP? It’s an acronym. It stands for “execution points.” A way of quantifying the pain you’ve inflicted on others. When you kill someone, your EXP increases. When you have enough EXP, your LOVE increases. LOVE, too, is an acronym. It stands for “Level of Violence.” A way of measuring someone’s capacity to hurt. The more you kill, the easier it is to distance yourself. The more you distance yourself, the less you will hurt. The more easily you can bring yourself to hurt others.”

He paused.

“Now, you understand. It’s time to begin your judgement.”

Their expression didn’t change.

“Look inside yourself,” he beseeched, trying to keep the emotion out of his voice. “Have you really done the right thing? And, considering what you’ve done… What will you do now?

“Take a moment to think about this.”

Again, Sans paused.

Their stare was beginning to vacant. They weren’t thinking at all. He was just one more obstacle before they met the king.

They shifted to the side and he switched back to his font.

“huh? you look bored.” He feigned amusement. “i get the feeling you aren’t going to learn anything from this. well, guess i gotta judge you then.”

Sans CHECKed them.

**CHARA**

**LVL 8 - ATK 10 - DF 20**

***The curious seventh fallen human.**

Curious.

“hmmm. lvl--”

“What’s so different about this route?” the human suddenly asked. Their eyes were shining a bright gold and now, they were staring at him with clear bewilderment and annoyance -- but most of all, a vivid curiosity that only a scientist’s could rival. “You weren’t at your station in Hotland -- the _second_ one, where you sell hot dogs -- and you didn’t ask me for dinner to ‘appeal to my monster side,’” they appeared to repeat derisively. “Not only that, Papyrus hasn’t answered my calls, even though I dated him. And I’ve called. Multiple times. Even visited Undyne’s house to ‘hang out.’ He wasn’t there, and he always is.

“I’ve killed Undyne before. Multiple times. Never have you switched your script. Never have you broken your routine. So what’s so different, huh? What’s got your bones so rattled, comedian?”

His eyelights went out sometime during their spiel. Then, before Sans could think of an actual retort, he said, “you killed some people on purpose, didn’t you? that’s probably bad. though, maybe some of it was in self defence--”

“Ughh, this is when you decide to rely on the script?! Are you serious? Just tell me what changed, damn it. Will this happen again if I kill Undyne in front of you? I could’ve sworn I’ve done it before; I didn’t know you were going to get all,” they waved their hands around, swinging the pan in the air. Sans held back a flinch. 

When magic began to manifest in his eye, he forcefully closed his sockets, hoping to curb the telltale glow.

_(“heh, didja think i would--”_

_The anomaly swung the pan again, this time cutting directly through his rib cage. Sans inhaled sharply as the pain swelled and thudded in his soul. He put his hand against his chest. DT infused marrow began to leak from the wound, dripping steadily out of the wound._

_The timeline was going to be destroyed._

_He swallowed against his hyoid. “so… guess that’s it, huh?”_

_Golden eyes stared at him victoriously, before that bright yellow began to dim._

_The pain was clouding his vision, but he held on. The DT might be draining fast, but he didn’t need much more time._

_“just… don't say i didn’t warn you.”_

_He got up. Stars dotted across his vision and he could’ve sworn he saw a flash of red and heard a distant, “Nyeh heh heh!”_

_“welp. i’m going to grillby’s.”_

_Sans walked out of the battle. He was so tired._

_He caught sight of Pap’s face and smiled tightly. “papyrus, do you want anything?” he asked his brother, before he teleported to Grillby’s.)_

He clenched his teeth as he continued to speak. “i don't know. help me out here. i wasn’t watching.” Sans didn’t open his eyes as he finished, “anyways, don't do that.”

He heard a distant shout as he teleported back to the house.

Papyrus was vacuuming the floor. He turned at the loud arrival. “SANS--” He let out a soft “oomph” as Sans threw himself at him, wrapping his arms around his brother in a tight embrace. 

“i’m sorry,” he uttered quietly as Papyrus hurriedly knelt down to return the hug.

“WHAT FOR, S--”

-

\--

\---

\----

\-----

\----

\---

\--

-

“SANS!”

Sans jolted awake, cracking open his eye sockets to look up at Undyne -- a fully-armored Undyne, magic still swirling around her glove-cladded fin-tips in anger. He could hear her breathing heavily in the layered metal suit; Hotland was already taking its toll on her.

Heh, the kid was still on the straight and narrow. Good.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you all so much for reading! If you enjoyed, I'd appreciate it greatly if you left a comment. Would love to hear your thoughts <3
> 
> Much love, my guys. [if you want, come say hey on tumblr.](https://cleopatraslibrary.tumblr.com)
> 
> My continued HC of Sans' ability from the Beginning Notes: The reason why Sans sees so many PP&F events during the fic is because of how tumultuous his emotions are. When he is apathetic, he rarely experiences these flashes; but as he's losing his sense of time, due to the amount of RESETs and RELOADs, he's seeing more outcomes of the PP&F and all timelines are beginning to merge together. As I'm typing this, it sounds like Sans is losing his mind, which, fair. But this isn't really about him losing his mind. It's a story about him trying to learn how to let himself feel again, even if it's only temporarily. 
> 
> Like I said before, he only gained these abilities because of Gaster's fall. I have a fic that I'm working on that expands on this, so I won't be sharing any more: however, if you're interested, keep an eye out, or message me on [Tumblr](https://cleopatraslibrary.tumblr.com) and we can chat! 
> 
> But, one final thing to remember: Sans doesn't remember the events of the previous timelines. He learns about them each timeline through his flashes and then forgets. The more apathetic he is, the more he doesn't remember. (So, if Papyrus is killed, he'll remember much more and will judge Frisk according to their PP&F sins, and vice versa: No one is killed? He doesn't remember as many of their sins.) He DOES know about the other timelines, however, in EVERY timeline; just not what happened IN them.
> 
> That's all, folks!
> 
> Again, thank you all so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed. Have a good day/night y'all <3


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